The devalued prime minister of a devalued country

I hate to say "I told you so" but I told you so. These bail-outs and nationalisations were bound to fail. Today, the pound slumped by six per cent. My own party's front bench, which initially tried to give the PM the benefit of the doubt, has belatedly come round to this blog's (and the markets') view that bail-outs end in debt and dishonour.

Sadly, my party's opposition will serve to make Gordon Brown even more obstreperous. The more he spends, the harder he will find it to admit his mistake. And so, Leeson-like, he will double and double in a futile attempt to move the market. As Kipling wrote: "The end of that game is oppression and shame, and the nation that plays it is lost".